Plays.-FULL-LENGTH WORKS
O: A Rhapsody in Divorce full-length comedic drama; part of Reimagined Greek Myth Cycle Cast Size 5 The Odyssey reimagined as a rhapsodic dramedy. O, a childless female neurobiologist in her 40s, is blindsided by her husband who wants a separation, but he refuses to leave the house. With that, her life is upended and she’s thrown into an epic couch-hopping odyssey. As O hops from one couch to the next, we’ll not only learn about the science behind love and heartbreak, O discovers unconventional and magical ways to reassemble the blown-up pieces of her life while she struggles to find her way back toward a “new home.” -More information about the 2026 World Premiere production at Outside In Theatre (Los Angeles) is located HERE! Stage Raw REVIEW: RECOMMENDED! “Brandli’s script is consistently ingenious, balancing sharp humor with genuine emotional weight.” The Caregiver's Guide full-length dramedy Cast Size 5 The Caregiver’s Guide is a dramedy about love, family, and the messiness of caring for one another. When a stand-up comedian returns home and reveals he’s inherited the early-onset Alzheimer’s gene from his late mother, his two sisters are forced to face their own fears about the future, their health, and how to care for someone who doesn’t want to be cared for. With humor, heart, and a touch of the supernatural, this play explores how one family leans on laughter, memory, and love to make it through life’s hardest turns. -Workshop production at Center for the Arts at Kayenta, St. George, UT Read the reviews of the 2026 Center for the Arts at Kayenta workshop production HERE and HERE! -Semi-Finalist for Premiere Stages Play Festival, 2025 -2020 Under Construction Playwright; play initially written under the auspices of The Road Theatre The Magician's Sister
full-length dramedy Cast Size 5 The Magician’s Sister follows the story of two sisters: the aspiring Magician driven by being the best, and the play’s narrator, who somewhat reluctantly serves as her “Wise Assistant.” When the Magician purposely disappears herself and leaves behind mysterious clues to solve, the Wise Assistant becomes obsessed with finding her. As the sisters’ story dramatically unfolds over the span of thirty years—interweaving the present and the past—we witness the sisters struggle to fulfill their collective goals and conflicting individual desires, while they strive to perfectly execute Houdini’s famous “Metamorphosis” illusion. But at what cost? The Magician’s Sister explores the complexities of sisterhood, the ripple effect of family trauma, and the complicated pursuit and price of “being special,” while also incorporating the stories of real, historical female magicians and plenty of on-stage magic. -Center Theatre Group Playwright as part of L.A. Writer's Workshop 2021-2022; play written under the auspices of CTG with group led by Luis Alfaro -Winner of the Jane Chambers Award and Stanley Drama Award -Workshop production at Center for the Arts at Kayenta, St. George, UT; January 16th to 25th, 2025 -Finalist for Ojai Playwrights Conference The Romeo and Juliet Senior Citizens Project—A Comedy full-length dramedy Cast Size 8 Lucas, a recent Yale MFA graduate, is hired to direct an abridged production of Romeo and Juliet for a local senior citizens retirement facility. Hilarious complications arise among the elder actors during rehearsals as an unexpected romance re-blossoms between Rich and Rose, the two star-crossed lovers/residents at the facility. As this comedy about second chances unfolds, we’ll watch both Lucas and his cast of headstrong seniors wrestle with Shakespeare and real-life drama. But will they be able to come together as a team and actually pull off opening night? The odds are against them, but the play must go on…no matter what. -Workshop and presentation at Coachella Valley Rep's Origins New Works Program -International Shakespeare Festival presentation at Westmont College, Santa Barbara -Selected for The Road Theatre's 13th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)
full-length dramedy; part of Reimagined Greek Myth Cycle Cast Size 5 Reimagined as pill-popping housewives, the tragic heroines of Greek Mythology are back. It’s 1960 and America is in the midst of a civil upheaval. But in North Orange, NJ, an immaculate suburb with all the trappings of a prosperous, modern society: afternoon tea parties, electric appliances, and JELL-O!, “Progress” and “Science” are the buzzwords of the day. In this farcical, domestic tragicomedy, the classical Greek heroines, Clytemnestra and Medea, have been recast as pill-popping housewives, and Antigone is the lovelorn, teenage girl next door. Their “blissful” lives are up ended when Cassandra, new to town and cursed with the gift of prophecy, arrives with a mind to free them from their dark destinies. -Winner of The Great Plains Theatre Conference's Holland New Voices Award -Los Angeles Times Critics’ Choice and LA Stage Alliance Ovation Recommended -LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award for Playwriting for an Original Play, nomination -Named on the inaugural KILROYS LIST -Joint World Premiere with: Moxie Theatre (San Diego, Jan-Feb 2018), Promethean Theatre (Chicago, July-Aug 2018) and Moving Arts (Los Angeles, Nov-Dec 2018; LA Times Critic’s Choice and Ovation Recommended) -Portland Premiere at Defunkt Theatre, Portland, OR, Feb-March 2020 Moving Arts Rolling World Premiere, Los Angeles: “Funny and powerful in equal measure, “BLISS (or Emily Post Is Dead!)” is a terrific spirit-rouser at a time when women everywhere are calling out bad behavior and demanding equality…” Los Angeles Times CRITICS’ CHOICE Moxie Theatre Rolling World Premiere, San Diego: “Brandli smartly upends theatrical history this month in her hilarious, sharply written and fast-paced comedy-drama….the play begins as a tart and very funny romp, then twists into, no surprise, tragedy, before ending on a note of hope and social change as the walls of Mount Olympus (or in this case, North Orange, N.J.) come crashing down"; The San Diego Union-Tribune Technicolor Life
full-length dramedy Cast Size 8 Maxine, a book smart teenager, is caught between her older sister, a wounded soldier who just returned from the war in Iraq, and her ailing grandmother with a flair for American Musicals. With the help of her new imaginary friends—Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes—Maxine secretly creates a dating profile for her sister and successfully sets her up with another wounded vet. Life takes a darker turn when her grandmother announces she wants her family to support her final wish by throwing her a good-bye party. With that, Maxine has to grow up fast. -Winner of The Aurora Theater Company's Global Age Project (GAP) Prize -Winner of John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award -Winner of Ashland New Play Festival -Finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama and Princess Grace Fellowship -World Premiere produced as part of Washington DC’s Women’s Voices Theater Festival Rep Stage World Premiere: "Technicolor Life is as colorful as its title implies...emotionally gripping...Brandli's script forces one to take a close-up look at social issues in today's American society." MD Theatre Guide The Depot Theatre Australian Premiere: “Heart, hope, and Hollywood combine in Technicolor Life, a moving story of coping in the 21st century.” Broadwayworld; Syndey, Australia Through the Eye of a Needle full-length dramedy Cast Size 7 Through the Eye of a Needle is a working middle-class family dramedy about the Keen family dealing with the death of their daughter, Dana, a navy corpsman who recently died in the Iraq War. Larry copes with a tumbler of scotch or five, Barbara stubbornly sets an extra plate setting, while their straight-edge teenage daughter, Samantha, secretly uses Twitter to create a protest on the George Washington Bridge. Much to Larry’s annoyance, the self-righteous Pastor Bill Towers and his fragile wife, Shirley, invite themselves over for Christmas Eve dinner, and then Nasser, an Iraqi refugee, arrives at their door unannounced. They quickly learn he was Dana’s trusted military interpreter and that Dana has given Nasser as a “Christmas gift.” As they fight over to keep Nasser or not, tempers fly and secrets are revealed. Will the Keens be pulled further apart or will they find grace and redemption in this unexpected gift? -World Premiere at The Road Theatre, Los Angeles, March-May 2018; Stage Raw ‘TOP 10 PICK’ and Ovation Recommended. Ovation Nominated for Best Ensemble. -Workshop with UC Santa Barbara’s LAUNCH PAD: New Plays in Process; July 2017 Visiting Hours
full-length dramedy; part of Reimagined Greek Myth Cycle Cast Size 7 A reimagining of the Persephone myth, now set in a psychiatric hospital. Visiting Hours follows the arduous journey of Stephie Green, a middle-aged music teacher who must break free from her complicated past in order to be reunited with her family. -2019 Humanitas Prize PLAY LA playwright; play initially written under the auspices of the Humanitas Foundation -Semi-Finalist for The Ojai Playwrights Conference, 2026 -Selected for The Road Theatre's 11th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival -Semi-Finalist for O’Neill National Playwrights Conference -Semi-Finalist for PlayMakers Repertory Company’s International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition -Humanitas PLAY LA Reading Festival, Los Angeles, 2019 Sisters Three
full-length off-center dramedy Cast Size 3 The Brontë sisters, modern day, Christmas Eve. Due to the death of their brother, Charlotte has dropped out of society and joined a commune on Gondol Island. So Emily and Anne build a canoe to rescue her. In this off-center dramedy about family, social media, fame, the holidays and the perfect cupcake, individual secrets and desires are revealed which could tear the sisters apart. -World Premiere with The Inkwell Theater Company, Los Angeles; Dec 2018-Jan 2019 -Workshop production with The Inkwell Theater Company, Los Angeles, 2016 -Finalist for The Source Festival, Semi-finalist for The Bay Area Playwrights Festival -Selected readings at Moving Arts MADlab Reading Series, Playwrights Union First Peak Reading Series M-Theory: a play told in 11 dimensions
full-length drama Cast Size 3 The near future. Former biographer Pauline Grey has shut herself and her daughter Ava away in a remote cabin in Angeles National Forest for nearly a year. Pauline will not let Ava go until she has the answers she is desperately seeking. But when a solar flare storm hits, cutting the women off from communication with the outside world, and a downed pilot appears at the cabin asking for help, Pauline's reality is challenged in more ways than one. -Selected for Moving Arts Seasons Readings Festival, Los Angeles; June 2023 -Semi-Finalist for Premiere Stages Play Festival, 2023 -Selected for Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Works Festival, Dallas; June 2022 -Finalist for The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2021 ¡SOLDADERA! full-length epic grotesque dramedy Cast Size 9-15 Part epic and part grotesque comedy, ¡SOLDADERA! is set in the Mexican Revolution during The Day of Dead Feast. A teenage girl with face blindness finds the camp where her mother fled to become a revolutionary soldadera (female solider). She is taken in by the other soldaderas and unintentionally catches the eye of the lascivious, god-fearing colonel. Upon learning her mother died bravely in battle, the girl decides to become a soldadera. This sets off the unveiling of secrets that threatens to tear the camp apart. -Finalist for Theatre UCF’s 2019 Pegasus PlayLab -Workshop with Moxie Theatre; February 2018 -Visiting Playwright at Loyola Marymount University with student workshop presentation, Fall 2016, Los Angeles. -Workshop with UC Santa Barbara’s LAUNCH PAD: New Plays in Process, July 2014 -Finalist for The Source Festival, Semi-Finalist O’Neill National Playwrights Conference S.O.E (formerly The Sinker)
full-length drama Cast Size 3 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE IS A BITCH. It’s the morning after a big party celebrating the publication of Josh’s first novel. His top student, childhood best friend, and literary agent unwittingly meet in his apartment and find themselves trapped by the fierce winter storm raging outside which threatens to cause a State of Emergency for the Boston area. Anxiously awaiting Josh’s return, the three begin sifting through the cigarette butts and plastic cups to clean up last night’s mess, until the discovery of a mysterious gun triggers unexpected revelations about the man they each deeply love. -*Atwater Village Theater, Los Angeles World Premiere, March-April 2013 *Received 2013 Los Angeles ARC Grant for this production -HotCity Theater, St. Louis Premiere, May 2010 -2011 Nomination for Kevin Kline Award for “Outstanding New Play” Medusa's Song
Cast Size 2 This is a work-in-progress Part the reimagined Greek Myth Cycle A modern-day reclaiming of the Medusa myth set on a college campus. The Golden Boy can run, but he can't hide. -SHORT WORKS; 10 minute plays
Normal Cast Size 2 Late for brunch with his in-laws, Robert tries to get his son, Bobby Jr., down from a tree. As Bobby Jr. continues to refuse to come down, Robert discovers things about his son and himself. Flooding Cast Size 2 B and C try to take a simple drive to a coffee shop. But there's a problem. B has a phobia of cars, and C has a phobia of small spaces. As the two phobics struggle to put the key in the ignition and close the door, they end up bearing their hearts and falling for each other. (Can be performed outdoors as well.) Once Removed Cast Size 2 Elliot and Maggie, a married couple diseased with a deep sadness, are desperate to get back into bed. But here’s an undeniable bump under the covers and they are forced to face a recent tragedy. Epic Love Cast Size 2 A married couple have their last date at their special spot in the woods. (Can be performed outdoors as well.) Looking for Bruce Cast Size 2 After posting her "Lost Cat" flyers all over town, Geraldine finds her recently estranged house cat, Bruce, on his birthday. During the last ten days of living on the streets, Bruce has discovered there's more to life than just Fancy Feast and catnip. Geraldine desperately wants him back, but Bruce wants her new boyfriend out of the picture first. Moon Man Cast Size 3 In the middle of the night, Lilith, a difficult widow, is visited by Moon Man, who has traveled from the moon to keep her company. Although Lilith tells Moon Man to leave, she is torn between wanting him to actually go and wanting him to stay. So she calls her son, Frankie, pretending that the house is on fire. When Frankie arrives, he cannot see Moon Man and finally reaches the end of his patience with his mother's lying. Pandemic Therapy Cast Size 3 Version #1: A young married couple struggles to adjust to their new pandemic living situation while their therapist wrestles with her own problems. Version #2: A long-time married couple struggles to adjust to their new pandemic living situation while their therapist wrestles with her own problems. Zoom Audition: A monologue Cast Size 1 A young woman does her first Zoom audition while she wrestles with her inner darkness. |
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You can read Jami's plays on the New Play Exchange.